“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” U.S. v. Olmstead – Justice Brandeis

Posts Tagged ‘Unlawful Arrest’

There are too many questions still to be answered – this is a very disturbingly confused situation, suggesting a need for an in depth and thorough investigation

As a retired research pathologist and physician the Sandra Bland case is very disturbing to me.

Sandra Bland was arrested after an officer stopped her for not using a signal to change lanes and then, although legally but questionably as he had no reasonable basis to do so, told her to stop smoking and then got mad at her and made her get out of the car because she seemed to object to this request.

When she got out of the car and was verbally objecting to the officer’s requests, the officer then slammed her to the ground causing her to smash her head down. Then she complained she couldn’t hear, which indicates she suffered a concussion.

She told the officers she had epilepsy and was on a medication, Kepra.

The jail then claims she committed suicide by hanging three days later with a plastic bag.

Yes it is possible to hang yourself by leaning in after securing your hands so you cannot get the bag or rope away from suffocating you even without any drop. Many prisoners have killed themselves in this manner called “leaning in hanging”.

If the jail denied her the epilepsy medication, it is possible that she died from a seizure as the medication wore out of her system and then made her prone to a seizure. The stress of the situation and lack of medication could have contributed to having a seizure. Then they could have staged the hanging. If this was true, then there would be no bleeding after death around the ligature (plastic bag) which was around her neck and no petechiae (pin point hemmorhages). Petechiae however, are not always present with hanging or suffocation.

If she was strangled and then the hanging staged, the autopsy report, if it was done properly, should show that the ligature furrowing was concentric and not consistent with hanging. A hanging will have non-concentric furrowing as the ligature has more pressure on one side due to gravity.

There was also plant matter in her abrasions on her back, consistent with the day she was arrested, having been thrown to the ground and dragged. It is negligence for the jail not to have cleaned and treated her abrasions or allowed her to shower properly for three days to clean the wounds.

If the blood tests show she did not have her medication, then that also would be negligence, as lack of medication needed for epilepsy could have precipitated a seizure.

The reports say she told the officers she was suicidal, but the jail did not have her on a suicide watch. That would also be negligence. Suicide in jails often occurs during the first few days in jail as that is when the detainee is most upset about the situation. Ms. Bland certainly had reason to be upset as the circumstances of the arrest and slamming her to the ground seem excessive.

In addition, she had an unusually high amount of marijuana in her blood. Therefore, she was given a large amount of marijuana in the jail which she either ingested or smoked. That needs investigation. I am not an expert on effects of marijuana so I cannot comment on whether this can increase suicidal ideation or depression or if it can trigger seizures.

The autopsy does not prove she hung herself. There are too many questions still to be answered.

A senior well-known forensic pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht , who is also an attorney agrees with the above assessment during an interview on the radio here.

The Sheriff staff have again unlawfully arrested me for the purpose of harassment of a whistle blower and retaliation against a federal witness.

Donations to my legal fund would be appreciated as would your actual presence in court during hearings and trial. Letters to the FBI and U.S. Attorney asking them to investigate the pattern of unlawful arrests of me and other whistle blowers and the felony violation of our civil rights would also be appreciated.

A paralyzed man convicted of resisting arrest and hitting a Chicago police officer in a 2006 incident is suing the city and several of its police officers for violating his civil rights. Daniel Casares, who is a quadriplegic, says that police pulled him from his vehicle and beat him even after he told them that he was paralyzed and could not get out of the car.Casares has been a partial C4 full C7 quadriplegic for a long time. He only has minimal movement in his arms and almost no movement of his hands, and of course is confined to a wheelchair. Most of his movements are muscle spasms not under his control. Emotions increase the muscle spasms as they did on the date in question. Casares was sitting in the passenger seat of a car in an alley where he had gone with his brother to admire a car. One of his interests is in cars so he is taken to look at interesting cars owned by his friends.

The police were apparently suspecting that drug deals were done in that alley and suspected his brother. They pulled their guns and told everyone to get out of the car. When Casares did not get out, despite everyone yelling he was quadriplegic, Casares claims a female officer got in the driver’s seat, pulled her gun and pushed it at his thigh and said “you’re going to walk now.” This great stress induced a muscle spasm that slapped her in the face. Immediately after that the police dragged him out of the car and beat him. His face was severely contused and swollen. They beat him more harshly because he refused to walk.

Three police officers that testified at Casares’s criminal trial offer a different account. They claim that they never drew their guns during the altercation and accuse Casares of hitting a female cop when she asked him to exit his car.

Cesares was charged with resisting arrest and misdemeanor battery. He was convicted at a bench trial. Judge Brown apparently was impressed with Caseras’ muscles – he is well toned in the arms because of constant involuntary spasms. Caseras told the judge he had only limited movement of his right arm demonstrating that he could move it a little up and down. The judge was so incompetent and outrageously biased that he ignored the fact that Caseras is quadriplegic with mostly muscle spasms and limited movement and the likelihood that Caseras involuntarily slapped the officer in the face and convicted Caseras who was sentenced to probation. To say there is NO reasonable doubt is insane and unfair.

Civil rights organizations and disability rights groups should jump onto this case and aid Caseras. We should also consider racial bias and discrimination against Caseras because he is Hispanic. Judge Brown should be removed from the bench for this outrage. The case should be overturned on appeal and if it is not, then we truly live in a totalitarian police state where police can beat, abuse, harass, and kill people with impunity!

This is a case screaming for the intervention of the U.S. Attorney. To me this is felony violation of civil rights under color of law, excessive force, unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution, and racial discrimination.